No Saturday Rehearsals on October 22 or 29

Enjoy the next two Saturdays as our FVL Schools Band Program
takes a well-deserved break! Once we resume rehearsals again
on November 5, we only have three to go for 2016. Please make
every effort to have our band students at those last three
rehearsals before our concert on November 20.

Reminder - we will be fitting concert vests at our November 5
rehearsal.

There will be no Director's Update posted next week.
However, watch for information coming soon regarding Lutheran
Vanguard of Wisconsin, and the group's Preview Day on Saturday,
November 19. That event will run from 1 - 4 PM, and ALL of our 8th
grade band students and parents are invited and encouraged to
attend!

Lesson Schedule Changes for this Week, October 24 - 28

A few factors will affect our lesson schedule this coming week.
Mr. Neujahr will be at FVL working on several items.
All of the Lutheran Vanguard of Wisconsin materials for the
2017 season, including Preview Day (November 19) and the
Informational Packet for 2017 must be completed. In addition,
FVL is hosting the WELS National Band Festival this coming March,
and there is much planning and communication that needs to go out
to our WELS schools across the United States and to the FVL band
families. In addition, this next week is Teacher's Conference
for most of our grade schools and FVL on Thursday and Friday.

So here is a summary of lessons this next week:

Mr. Neujahr's Schedule
Monday - No lessons at Mount Olive
Tuesday - No lessons at Mount Olive or Shepherd of the
Valley
Wednesday - No lessons at Green Bay or Wrightstown

Mr. Kramer's Schedule Monday - No Lessons at Neenah and Oshkosh.
Lessons given at Emanuel, New London
Tuesday - All Lessons as normal at Immanuel, Greenville
Wednesday - No Lessons at St. Paul, Appleton.
Lessons given at St. Peter, Freedom

FVL Schools Band Account Payments

Since our Fall Fundraiser is now completed, very soon you will be
receiving the first semester billing statements if you have not
already received them. Your accounts have been credited with
25% of your overall sales from the fundraiser. You have the ability
to make payments to your FVL Schools Band Program account by using
our online form. The link to the payment page can be found on
the left navigation panel and is entitled "FVL Schools Band
Payments".

Upcoming FVL Schools Band rehearsal schedule

Our Fall Concert will begin at 2:00 PM(The Packers play an evening game at 7:30 that
day!). This concert will feature our FVL Schools Bands -
the Cadet Band (beginning students) and the
Concert Winds (students with more than one year of experience). The
full Concert Winds will play a few
selections. This year we are also dividing the Concert Winds
into two bands, giving our second, third, and fourth year students
an opportunity to play music more closely matched to their progress
in the lesson books. The FVL Symphonic
Band will also play a few selections at this concert.
It will be a wonderful opportunity to see the entire FVL band
program, from beginners through high school!

Concert Dress for the November 20 concert

So that you have adequate time to prepare, here is a summary of
what our students need to wear for our concert in November (Both
Cadet Band and Concert Winds):

Rehearsal this Saturday, October 15

Both the Cadet Band and the Concert Winds will rehearse this
weekend at the regular times. This is our final October
rehearsal.

Note that there is NO rehearsal on Saturday, October 22 and
Saturday, October 29.

8th Grade ACT Aspire Test this Saturday

Some of our band students may be taking the Aspire test this
Saturday. FVL is also offering a test on Saturday, November
5. If your son or daughter is taking the test, they may
certainly leave rehearsal early. As they need to be in their
testing rooms before 9:00, they may be able to attend rehearsal for
about the first 30 or 40 minutes. If they are taking the test
on November 5, they must get to FVL early enough to be fitted for
their concert vests before going to the testing room (see below for
message about fitting vests).

Upcoming FVL Schools Band rehearsal schedule

Rehearsals leading up to our November concert will be on the
following Saturdays:

Our Fall Concert will begin at 2:00 PM(The Packers play an evening game at 7:30 that
day!). This concert will feature our FVL Schools Bands -
the Cadet Band (beginning students) and the
Concert Winds (students with more than one year of experience). The
full Concert Winds will play a few
selections. This year we are also dividing the Concert Winds
into two bands, giving our second, third, and fourth year students
an opportunity to play music more closely matched to their progress
in the lesson books. The FVL Symphonic
Band will also play a few selections at this concert.
It will be a wonderful opportunity to see the entire FVL band
program, from beginners through high school!

Concert Dress for the November 20 concert

So that you have adequate time to prepare, here is a summary of
what our students need to wear for our concert in November (Both
Cadet Band and Concert Winds):

The Cadet Band members will wear a sweater vest for their
performances. The vests will be handed out prior to and collected
immediately following the concert.

Concert Winds members will receive a vest and bow tie before their
performance. Vests and bow ties will be handed out prior to
and should be returned immediately after the concert.

Fall Fundraiser Product Pick Up on Saturday, October 15

The products that were ordered for the Fall Fundraiser are going to
be delivered to FVL for pickup on Saturday, October 15.
If you can not be there that day to pick up
your products, please make arrangements with somebody else to pick
up the products, such as another family from your school or church,
grandparents, etc. FVL does not have the ability to store
these items, many of which are frozen food products.

If any parents are available to assist with the set up and/or
distribution of the products, your help would be much
appreciated! The Hansen's truck will be at FVL by about 7:30
AM. Assistance would be helpful at that time to help organize
the products in the Commons, and also to help get the proper
products to parents who may want to pick them up when they drop off
their band students. More assistance will also be helpful at
about 9:30 as parents are coming to pick up their children.
So 8:00 - 8:30 and 9:30 - 10:00 will be the "rush hour" times when
most parents will be there for pick up.

Fundraiser Results - Amazing!

A HUGE thank you to all of our FVL Schools Band members and their
parents for again making this year's Fall Fundraiser a success!
The totals are in, and they are impressive. Here is a
breakdown of the past three years and the fundraiser results for
this year:

Total number of FVL Schools Band students who participated
2013 - 26
2014 - 41
2015 - 422016 - 41

WOW! Of the $4491.00 in profit, half, or $2245.50 will go
into the FVL Schools Band account, and $2245.50 will go directly
into the individual student accounts. That money will be used
to offset semester one band fees. Five of our students will
realize a benefit of over $100 for their band account, while ten
more will see benefits of between $50 and $100.

Not only do the students get the benefit of a reduction in their
student fees, but they also earned Fabulous Prizes for their
efforts! Students who sold 5 or more items will receive the
"4-pack of Emoji Keychains"; 15 items sold will earn a pair
of "Color Morph Shades"; 30 items earns a "5 pound bag of
Gummi Bears"; 45 items earns a "Weglowz Light Up Headphones", and
60 items earns a "SS 360 Drone with Multi-color LED Lights"!
Students get all of the prizes up to and including the prize for
their level of sales. Pretty exciting! Overall, 39 students
earned the Emoji Keychains; 19 earned the Keychains and the Shades;
7 earned the Keychains, Shades, and Gummi Bears; 4 earned the
Keychains, Shades, Gummi Bears, and Headphones; and
2 motivated students earned the Keychains, Shades,
Gummi Bears,Headphones and the Drone!

Special thanks go to Vicki Bokelman and Cindy Countney, the
Hansen's representatives who did such a great job organizing the
fundraiser.

Help Wanted for Saturday, November 5

We would like to fit the concert vests for the Cadet Band and
Concert Winds students on Saturday, November 5 during the
rehearsal. A few moms or dads is all that is needed. If
you are able to help on that day, send me a message via email
(jneujahr@fvlhs.org) or my office phone at 920-739-4441 x5160.
Thanks for considering this very important volunteer
opportunity!

Then on the day of the concert (November 20) we would also need
parent volunteers to assist with distributing the vests before the
concert and collecting them after the concert. Let me know if
you are able to help on concert day.

Upcoming FVL Schools Band rehearsal schedule

Our Fall Concert will begin at 2:00 PM(The Packers play an evening game at 7:30 that
day!). This concert will feature our FVL Schools Bands -
the Cadet Band (beginning students) and the
Concert Winds (students with more than one year of experience). The
full Concert Winds will play a few
selections. This year we are also dividing the Concert Winds
into two bands, giving our second, third, and fourth year students
an opportunity to play music more closely matched to their progress
in the lesson books. The FVL Symphonic
Band will also play a few selections at this concert.
It will be a wonderful opportunity to see the entire FVL band
program, from beginners through high school!

Concert Dress for the November 20 concert

So that you have adequate time to prepare, here is a summary of
what our students need to wear for our concert in November (Both
Cadet Band and Concert Winds):

The Cadet Band members will wear a sweater vest for their
performances. The vests will be handed out prior to and collected
immediately following the concert.

Concert Winds members will receive a vest and bow tie before their
performance. Vests and bow ties will be handed out prior to
and should be returned immediately after the concert.

REMINDER - FVL Band and Choir concert on Wednesday, October 12

The FVL Band and Choirs will present their Fall Concert on
Wednesday, October 12. The concert will begin at 7:00 PM and
will last approximately one and a half hours. The concert
will take place in the FVL Auditorium. It would be fantastic to see
our FVL Schools Band members in the audience for this concert.
I know there are many older siblings that go to FVL and
participate in band and choir, so those students may already plan
to attend. Seeing the "big band brothers and sisters" from
FVL perform is a fantastic way to build excitement for our FVL
Schools Band members. In just a few short years, they will
also be a part of a high school band program. It is amazing
to see the progression from Cadet Band to Concert Winds to the FVL
Symphonic Band. The FVL Symphonic Band has some exciting
music programmed for this concert. You will not be
disappointed!

Fall Fundraiser Product Pick Up on Saturday, October 15

Thanks to all of our parents and students for their participation
in the Fall Fundraiser! As this is already a long Update, I will
save the details and amounts for next week. At this time I
can say that the results were once again impressive!

The products that were ordered for the Fall Fundraiser are going to
be delivered to FVL for pickup on Saturday, October 15.
If you can not be there that day to pick up
your products, please make arrangements with somebody else to pick
up the products, such as another family from your school or church,
grandparents, etc. FVL does not have the ability to store
these items, many of which are frozen food products.

If any parents are available to assist with the set up and/or
distribution of the products, your help would be much
appreciated! The Hansen's truck will be at FVL by about 7:30
AM. Assistance would be helpful at that time to help organize
the products in the Commons, and also to help get the proper
products to parents who may want to pick them up when they drop off
their band students. More assistance will also be helpful at
about 9:30 as parents are coming to pick up their children.
So 8:00 - 8:30 and 9:30 - 10:00 will be the "rush hour" times when
most parents will be there for pick up.

SmartMusic - What is it? And is it really that smart?

I have had a few parents contact me asking about the App that we
use in our lessons. In a nutshell, SmartMusic is an
incredibly powerful online interactive tool for practicing at home.
Mr. Kramer and I both have access to SmartMusic, and we have
been using it in our lessons. It has been fun for me and the
students to use the program! Hopefully your children have
told you about it. Not only is it fun to use - the benefits
are extraordinary:

Choose to play along with thousands of pieces in the SmartMusic
library

Learn how your part fits within the ensemble through
accompaniment

SmartMusic listens as you play, giving you instant feedback on
assessable files

Move at your own pace by controlling the tempo and clicktrack
with subdivisions

Isolate difficult phrases of any length with the loop tool

Record and play back your practice sessions for self
assessment

Send MP3 recordings to family members and friends

Solo repertoire accompaniment follows spontaneous tempo
chnges

In addition to having the entire lesson series available in
SmartMusic (the "Standard of Excellence" books we use for lessons),
the program also has thousands of solos available for interactive
practice and accompaniment. Many of the songs for Concert
Winds and Cadet Band are also in the program. During lessons,
we have been using SmartMusic to work on these songs. It
gives us the ability to rehearse individual parts, with the added
bonus of having the entire band playing along with us! The
assessment portion of the program is also very powerful, as it can
immediately give the student feedback as to notes that were played
correctly, and shows notes and rhythms that were incorrect.

Students in 7th and 8th grade will soon be getting their solos.
SmartMusic is a fantastic tool to assist in learning a solo.
Not only can the students set the accompaniment to play with
them, but they can also listen to their part being played, as well
as set the tempo slower or faster to accomadate their skill level.
SmartMusic can also be used the day of the solo festival to
accompany their performance.

There is much more to the program than I can post in this space.
Go to the SmartMusic link to see for yourself.
On their website you will see a short demo video that shows
the program in use by students, as well as other links to more
information.

SmartMusic is also available to you! Although it is not free,
it is VERY inexpensive at just $40 for a one-year subscription.
It is also very simple to begin using SmartMusic.
Simply download the program to any computer, tablet, or
laptop and you can start enjoying its benefits immediately.

If you would like more information about SmartMusic, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

My guess is that if you purchase SmartMusic, your child will
practice MUCH MORE than they currently do. That is always a
good thing!